Traffic

The Spencer Davis Group emerged in 1964 from Birmingham’s rhythm-and-blues scene. Relying on a powerful, driving rhythm section — and above all on the “black”-sounding voice and the soulful, gospel-style organ of child prodigy Steve Winwood — they made their mark even in the Swinging London of 1965 with Keep On Running (their first No. 1), written by Jamaican songwriter Jackie Edwards, who also penned Somebody Help Me (1966). Their greatest success came with the rousing Gimme Some Loving (1966), written by Winwood himself. After I’m A Man (1967), the group faded when Winwood left to form a new band — Traffic.

Winwood joined guitarist Dave Mason, saxophonist Chris Wood, and drummer Jim Capaldi to launch a project blending folk, blues, jazz, and rock. The band had for British rock the same revolutionary role that the Cream had the previous year. Traffic became the very emblem of the “progressive” spirit. As with Cream, the instrumental passages took precedence over the vocals — but unlike Cream, they were less blues-inspired and increasingly conceptual.

Traffic debuted at the height of the psychedelic era, standing out with witty refrains like Paper Sun (one of the most intriguing raga-rock pieces of the time, with flutes and folk guitars) and Hole In My Shoe (a vaudeville nursery rhyme that expands into interstellar organ sounds and ends in an Indian carnival).

Mr Fantasy (UA, December 1967), their first album, was effectively the manifesto of a new era, drawing equally on folk (Wood’s flute), jazz (Wood’s sax, Winwood’s organ), soul (Winwood’s singing), and gospel (Mason’s vocals), on Hendrix and Cream, on acid-rock and blues-rock. Not only was the stylistic blend a hybrid, but even the mood was indefinable — at once sweet and intense, lyrical and intoxicating, melancholic and solemn. The harmonic inventions were highly original: Heaven Is In Your Mind, a folk ballad upended by Capaldi’s syncopations, honky-tonk piano, and mantra-like choruses; Coloured Rain, an acid-rock piece with gospel singing and organ; No Face No Name No Number, a slow ballad with classically inspired mellotron and flute in the vein of the Moody Blues.
Standing apart was Dear Mr. Fantasy, the true breakthrough track — a jazz/blues-rock jam embroidered with psychedelic chromaticism, its suffocated vocal sounding as if from beyond the grave, its dense and thunderous instrumental weave made of free-flying notes.

Traffic (1968) capitalized on these technical innovations to create a new kind of sophisticated song. While Mason was the most prolific songwriter (Vagabond Virgin, Feelin’ Alright — which became a classic — and Crying To Be Heard), the peak of the record was perhaps Winwood’s last psychedelic gem, Forty Thousand Headmen.

Reduced to a trio (organ, sax, and drums), Winwood, Wood, and Capaldi recorded Last Exit (1969), featuring Medicated Goo, a trombone-driven funk-soul tune, and Shanghai Noodle Factory. It was a minor album, half live, which made many think the group was finished.

Indeed, at the height of his vocal powers, Winwood formed the supergroup Blind Faith (Polydor, 1969) with Eric Clapton of Cream and Ric Grech of the Family. The solemn prayer Presence Of The Lord (written by Clapton), the driving blues-rock Sea Of Joy, and the tender folk-soul ballad Can’t Find My Way Home made for a much superior album.

After a two-year hiatus, Winwood, Wood, and Capaldi re-formed Traffic to record John Barleycorn Must Die (UA, 1970), an album showcasing their artistic maturity in six complex tracks. The instrumental fantasy Glad was their answer to Colosseum’s Valentyne Suite (more jazzy and less baroque). At least three songs belong to their major repertoire and exhibit stronger soul-jazz traits: Freedom Rider (Wood’s flute masterpiece), Stranger To Himself (a danceable rhythm and blues), and Empty Pages (with a fluid jazz piano solo). The interweaving of solos, riffs, melodies, and counterpoints was, if anything, almost too intricate.

Meanwhile, Mason had moved to Los Angeles — fittingly, to the circle of Leon Russell — and launched his solo career with Alone Together (Blue Thumb, 1970), not very different from Traffic’s second album.

After the live album Welcome To The Canteen (1971), Traffic changed personality, specializing in long, cerebral jams for virtuosos, full of solos and improvisations on themes: The Low Spark Of High-Heeled Boys (1971, also featuring Ric Grech), Shoot Out At The Fantasy Factory (1973), and When The Eagle Flies (1974). Smiling Phases (Island, 1992) is a two-disc anthology — one for the early period, one for the later.

Winwood later joined Stomu Yamashta and Klaus Schulze in the group Go. Steve Winwood (Island, 1977) marked his solo debut, though it didn’t differ much from the Traffic work (Vacant Chair, Time Is Running Out). By contrast, Arc Of A Diver (1980) — entirely performed and sung by Winwood — embraced a more electronic and melodic sound (While You See A Chance, Arc Of A Diver), followed by Talking Back To The Night (1982), also self-produced (Valerie).

Wood died of illness in 1983.

Winwood perfected his stylistic cocktail and studio production art with Back In The High Life (1986), the album that made him a soul-music star (Higher Love, a duet with Chaka Khan). His success continued with Roll With It (Virgin, 1988) and its title track, and Refugees Of The Heart (1990), featuring One And Only Man and the ten-minute In The Light Of Day (again mostly played by him on all instruments). As a commercial soul singer, Winwood is not much better than many others. The Finer Things (Island, 1995) is a four-disc retrospective box set.

Winwood and Capaldi later re-formed Traffic to record Far From Home (Virgin, 1994).

Winwood released the solo albums Junction Seven (1997), About Time (2003) and Nine Lives (2008).

Spencer Davis died in 2020.